Women's Basketball All-Ivy -- 2012-13

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Add yet another individual
accomplishment to Princeton senior Niveen Rasheed.
After a vote by the Ivy League’s eight coaches, Rasheed was
unanimously voted Player of the Year for the third career unanimous
award for one of the most decorated players in confernce
history.

Rasheed (Danville, Calif.) was also unanimously selected Rookie of
the Year in 2009-10 and Player of the Year last season. She is the
first Tiger in program history to earn back-to-back Ivy League
Player of the Year awards and the first Ivy to receive consecutive
unanimous Player of the Year accolades since Harvard's Hana
Peljto following the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. Rasheed
joins Peljto as the only two players in League history to earn
three postseason awards in unanimous fashion, as Peljto was also
Rookie of the Year in 2000-01.

Rasheed also was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection, marking
her third appearance on the first team and her second-straight as a
unanimous selection. The senior guard led the League in scoring
(16.9 ppg), ranked second in rebounding (9.0 rpg) and third in
assists (3.3 apg). She received Player of the Week seven times in
2012-13, the second-highest single-season total behind
Harvard’s Allison Feaster, who took home 11
in 1997-98.

Rasheed’s Player of the Year award gives Princeton
three-straight for the first time in program history, after
Addie Micir was named Player of the Year in
2010-11. The Tigers are the first team to earn the honor
three-consecutive years since Penn from 1998-2001, when
Diana Caramanico was the recipient.

Since the Defensive Player of the Year award was created in
2009-10, Rasheed’s fellow classmate Lauren
Polansky (Mill Valley, Calif.) has received it three
times, setting a mark that will be hard to match. Polansky takes
home her third-straight Defensive Player of the Year honor after a
season in which she averaged 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game
despite missing six contests due to injury. Polansky was a big part
of Princeton's stellar defense, which led the League in field goal
percentage defense (33.8 pct.) and scoring defense (52.8 ppg.).

Harvard sophomore Temi Fagbenle (London) was a
unanimous selection for Rookie of the Year, the first to do so
since Rasheed in 2009-10. Fagbenle becomes the fourth Crimson to
earn unanimous Rookie of the Year honors, joining Brogan
Berry (2008-09), Reka Cserny (2001-02),
Peljto (2000-01) and Feaster (1994-95). Fagbenle earned 10 Rookie
of the Week honors this season, tying her for first-place all-time
in the Ivy League record book with Dartmouth's Eliza
Morrison in 2003-04 and Penn's Diana
Caramanico in 1997-98. Fagbenle averaged 12.3 points and
7.8 rebounds per game and totaled seven double-doubles, third-best
in the League.

Joining Rasheed on the first team was Penn junior Alyssa
Baron (Miami), who also was a unanimous selection. Baron
led her team in scoring (14.2 ppg), assists (3.9 apg) and steals
(2.0 spg) and ranked second in rebounding (6.3). She scored in
double figures in 24 of Penn's 28 games, including five contests of
at least 20 points. Baron has steadily moved up the ranks on the
All-Ivy teams, as she was honorable mention, as well as Rookie of
the Year, in 2010-11 and second team last season.

A pair of Crimson found their way onto the first team in senior
Victoria Lippert (San Diego) and junior
Christine Clark (Tucson, Ariz.), marking the
second-straight year Harvard had two first-team All-Ivy performers.
Lippert was twice named Player of the Week while averaging 13.5
points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists. She missed just six free
throws all season, shooting 91.3 percent from the charity stripe
(65-of-71). In League play, Lippert raised her game, contributing
14.4 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 94.6 percent from the
free throw line (35-of-37).

Clark, meanwhile, earned Player of the Week four times, tying for
the ninth-most in a single season in Ivy history. Clark led her
team and ranked second in the League in scoring, with 15.7 points
per game. She also averaged 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3
steals per contest. It marks her second-straight appearance on the
All-Ivy first team.

Rounding out the first team was Yale sophomore Sarah
Halejian (Wyckoff, N.J.). Last season’s Rookie of
the Year apparently does not know the meaning of sophomore slump,
as she set career-highs in scoring (13.8 ppg), rebounding (3.4
rpg), assists (2.9 apg), field goal percentage (41.3 pct.) and
three-point percentage (35.6 pct.). Halejian’s season
included a 29-point effort against Harvard in which the sophomore
finished one point shy of Yale’s single-game record. Halejian
receives her first career All-Ivy honor.

Joining Fagbenle on the second team is Cornell junior
Allyson DiMagno (Fairport, N.Y.), who led the
League in double-doubles with 16, the highest single-season total
since Columbia's Judie Lomax finished with 21 in
2009-10 en route to Player of the Year honors. DiMagno led the
League in rebounding (11.5 rpg) and ranked third in scoring (14.7
ppg) and second in field goal percentage (47.1 pct.). She earns her
second-straight All-Ivy accolade after receiving Honorable Mention
last season.

Princeton put a pair of players on the second team in senior
Megan Bowen (Bath, Pa.) and junior Kristen
Helmstetter (Bridgewater, N.J.). Bowen started all 28
games and averaged 8.9 points and 3.9 rebounds, including a
career-high two double-doubles. She scored a personal-best 21
points on 8-of-11 shooting to help Princeton hold off Dartmouth,
68-60 on March 2. Helmstetter scored in double-figures in 14 games
and averaged 9.0 points and 4.9 rebounds on the year. Both players
earn their first career All-Ivy awards.

Brown junior Lauren Clarke (Colts Neck, N.J.)
closed out the second team. Clarke led her team in scoring (13.1
ppg) and assists (2.8 apg) while also averaging 3.7 rebounds per
contest. She takes home her first career All-Ivy accolade and gives
Brown a second team recipient for the third straight year, after
senior Sheila Dixon earned the honor the past two
seasons.

Vasquez takes home her third-straight All-Ivy accolade, while it
marks the first for Graf. Zimmer earned her first career postseason
award, while Ray became the first Quakers rookie to be named
All-Ivy since Baron took home honorable mention status in
2010-11.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
*Niveen Rasheed, Princeton (Sr., G – Danville, Calif.)